Chinedu Udoji: No revenge mission for Enyimba

Ahead of this weekend’s top-of-the bill clash between the two most successful clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League in the last 10 years, Kano Pillars and Enyimba, SL10.ng previews the game by speaking to Enyimba captain, Chinedu Udoji. The central defender talks about the rivalry between both clubs, and of course, this particular fixture which holds in Kano on Sunday. The People’s Elephants were narrowly beaten to the league last season by Pillars, but Enyimba bounced back to win the Nigeria Federations Cup at the expense of Dolphins.

The huge rivalry however, between both clubs at the Sani Abacha Stadium have mostly been cagey and tense. To buttress this point, only once in the last three fixtures in Kano has more than a goal been scored, and Udoji seems to be expecting yet another tense and cagey encounter.

Sl10: Finally, the game that a lot of people have been expecting is here. Pillars versus Enyimba. How does it feel to be a player preparing for this tie?

Udoji: It’s the normal preparation before games. You train, you get your body and mind ready and you hope for the best. It’s the same preparation basically. But the difference is mental because you have to do a lot of mental preparation for games like this as you’re playing your rivals. You don’t want them to beat you because it may end being what makes them champions. So I would say for games like this you probably just need better mental preparation because you don’t want to be beaten by your strongest rival.

But the truth is Pillars have had the better of Enyimba recently. Doesn’t that put some psychological strain on you? Like a mental pressure?

Well I wouldn’t say it does on me because after one game, I try to move on and think of the next. That doesn’t mean you don’t think of it when you lose. They beat us last season and it still feels bad but we have to concentrate on what is on ground now. So I don’t like to go into games feeling under pressure because you end up making silly mistakes.

So what sort of game would you say you’re expecting then?

A tough game of course. There’s no time we play them that it isn’t always tough. Whether at home or in Kano, it’s always tough and even though we haven’t always beaten them in Kano, they have also struggled to beat us there and they also know it. So I’m seeing another tough game.

Does this mean you’re settling for a draw or a narrow loss?

You should understand that this has been the most anticipated fixture in the league in the last few years because we have both been the best teams in the league. It is always a tough time whenever both teams play against each other, be it in Aba or in Kano. It’s always difficult for any of the sides to win. But this is one game we want to win and we have had them in our sights for this long and we hope to beat them in Kano this weekend.

So is it some sort of a revenge mission seeing how they beat you last season?

Well I wouldn’t say revenge mission because I don’t think it is a revenge mission yet, maybe until we meet later again in the league but that notwithstanding, it is a game we will like to win and I hope we win.